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Fish & Game gets bat disease grant

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department officials will receive a $20,500 grant from the federal government to support efforts to combat a disease that has killed millions of bats across the country, 1st District Congressman Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH, announced.

The grant comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and will address white-nose syndrome, which attacks hibernating bats. The fungal disease is thought to be responsible for the deaths of 5.7 million bats since 2007.

“Wildlife diseases like white-nose syndrome are a threat to our nation’s food security and environmental health, which is why I introduced legislation in both 2010 and 2014 that would give our communities the tools they need to help these important species,” Shea-Porter said in a statement.

The state Fish and Game Department is expected to use the grant to conduct winter surveys of mines where bats hibernate, monitor summer maternity colonies of little brown bats, and to organize bat counts by area residents.